Check it Out: The Rib Pit

It's amazing, but for some reason it seems that the most painstakingly planned dinning excursion can never hold a candle to those magnificent meals that you just happen to fall in to. I'm guessing it has something to do with the lack of expectations, or perhaps the thrill of discovery, but time and time again it's true. I bring this up, because earlier this week I had the pleasure of enjoying just such a meal. It all started at about 6 o'clock, with a group of my friends sitting around going back and forth over where we ought to get dinner. The debate was centered mostly around all the usual suspects (chipotle, Pho, sushi...), until one person threw out one of our longest running questions; "is there anywhere in DC where you can get decent barbecue?"


Barbecue sounded like an intriguing option, so after a short stint on google we set off for the intersection of 14th and Randolph Street - the home of The Rib Pit. Its a bit out of the way (a metro + buss ride from just about anywhere), so fortunately we had a car, but 15 minutes later we had arrived. When I say that going into this we know nothing about the place, I couldn't be more sincere. For instance we did not know that there was actually no dining room (we ended up eating on the stoop across the street), or that we would be paying through a safety-glass turnstile, but most of all, we had no idea that we had just stumbled across one hell of a hidden gem.

In a city like DC, where even the smallest sandwich will set you back 6 or 7 bucks, I was floored when my "Super Combo 2" (2 mammoth pulled pork sandwiches + healthy helpings of both greens and mac and cheese) cost me all of $10.50. Oh yea, and included in that was 32 ounces of the tastiest iced tea I've had in a long time. This place is a steal. Even if the food had been mediocre it would be... and it's far far from it. The barbeque sauce is on the sweeter side, which suites me just fine, and the sides for great too. My one friend got their candied yams, they were delicious, and we would have got what was sure to be a spectacular sweet potato pie had they not been fresh out that the time.

There was so much food that I was actually able to bring one whole pulled pork sandwich and most of my mac and cheese home with me for lunch the next day. Two whole meals for $10, aint nothing wrong with that.

If you yourself are looking for decent barbecue in the district, eating on a budget, or just like damn good food than put The Rib Pit on your list of places to check out. It's well worth the trip.